Industry leaders have voiced concerns regarding Africa’s aspirations to become a leading player in the global digital landscape, emphasizing critical obstacles such as energy shortages and a deficit of skilled professionals.
This warning was prominently shared at the Hyperscalers Convergence Africa 2025 conference in Lagos, which revolved around the theme “The Power of Convergence.”
Among the distinguished attendees were Bill Kleyman, CEO of Apolo.us and executive chair for Data Center Programs at Informa; Guy Zibi, managing partner at Xalam Analytics; Dr. Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, director general of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA); Shayo Olumide, vice president of Heavy Industries, Telecoms & Technology at Africa Finance Corporation (AFC); Vivek Mittal, CEO of the African Infrastructure Development Association (AFIDA); and Ben Roberts, principal at Digital Economy Advisors.
Other key figures included Oguche Agudah, head of programs at Pan Africa Fund Managers Alliance and founding CEO of the Pension Fund Operations Association of Nigeria; Hakeem Adeniji-Adele, deputy managing director at eTranzact; Eero Toivainen, Trade Counsellor for West Africa at Business Finland; Bukola Ajayi, general manager of Architecture and Enterprise IT at MTN Nigeria; Akeem Adeshina, chief commercial officer at IHS Nigeria; Roger Shutte, general manager of Infrastructure & Cloud Engineering at MTN Nigeria; Johnson Agogbua, CEO of Kasi Cloud; and Dr. Ayotunde Coker, CEO of Open Access Data Centres.
In his keynote, Bill Kleyman portrayed Africa as “one of the fastest-growing digital markets globally,” while cautioning that inadequate energy infrastructure could impede this momentum. He stressed, “Connectivity is the backbone of contemporary life-it influences how we work, socialize, and thrive. This is why global tech giants are intensifying their investments across Africa.”
Kleyman noted that the continent’s data center energy demand is surging by 20-25% annually, with projections nearing 8,000 gigawatt-hours. “Achieving success in this domain depends on two pillars: dependable power supply and visionary leadership,” he asserted. He further highlighted the complexities introduced by the global AI boom, where server rack power densities have escalated from 16 to 60 kilowatts, yet only about 10% of data centers are currently equipped to support AI workloads. “Without strategic execution, ambitions remain unrealized,” he warned. “Africa is at a crossroads to secure its share in this digital gold rush.”
During a panel addressing the goal of scaling capacity to 2,500 MW, Johnson Agogbua, CEO of Kasi Cloud, emphasized that the shortage of qualified talent, rather than technological limitations, could become the foremost barrier. “While power and connectivity challenges can be managed, the pressing question is whether we can cultivate and retain sufficient skilled professionals within Africa,” he remarked.
Roger Shutte of MTN Nigeria concurred, adding, “As we build expertise, it is equally vital to foster environments that encourage talent retention, support indigenous businesses, and uphold digital sovereignty.”
Muhammed Rudman, CEO of the Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria (IXPN), discussed initiatives aimed at “localizing content” to reduce reliance on international data pathways. “Traditionally, Nigerian networks primarily served as gateways to overseas content. Our mission is to anchor that content domestically,” he explained.
Dr. Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi from NITDA presented a pragmatic roadmap for achieving widespread digital sovereignty during sessions on AI and policy. He underscored that Africa’s digital evolution demands a combination of ambitious vision and incremental, context-specific solutions capable of regional scalability. “Many global technology leaders began as grassroots innovations addressing local needs,” he observed.
He urged collaboration among governments, innovators, and the private sector to craft adaptable, data-driven regulations that prioritize technology as a tool for human benefit rather than domination, citing NITDA’s Intelligent Regulatory Framework as a dynamic model that evolves based on empirical evidence while protecting public interests.
Abdullahi highlighted Nigeria’s 3 Million Technical Talent (3MTT) initiative as a strategic effort to transform Africa’s youthful population into a skilled workforce. He described AI as a “greenfield opportunity” for the continent to tackle critical challenges in healthcare, agriculture, and small business growth, rather than merely optimizing existing systems. Additionally, he referenced government strategies to bridge funding gaps through innovative public-private partnerships and the development of a National Digital Public Infrastructure integrating identity, payment, and data platforms.
At the summit’s inauguration, Temitope Osunrinde, executive director of Africa Hyperscalers, framed Africa’s digital potential alongside its hurdles: “Although Africa represents 18% of the global population, it accounts for less than 2% of global data center capacity and under 1% of computing power. Furthermore, 80% of our data is hosted outside the continent.”
He highlighted accelerating investment trends, noting global data center vacancy rates have fallen below 1%, and pointed to infrastructure expansions such as subsea cables by Meta and Google, alongside new facilities from Visa, Equinix, Raxio, Digital Realty, and Nvidia.
However, Osunrinde warned that nearly 600 million Africans still lack electricity access, even as emerging data centers consume power comparable to small cities. “The challenge extends beyond electrifying households to powering Africa’s digital economy,” he stated. “Governments must fast-track regulatory approvals, encourage competitive telecom markets, and promote renewable energy adoption. Considering that equipment constitutes half the cost of data centers, imagine the impact if such imports were exempt from taxes.”
A consistent theme throughout the conference was that Africa’s digital transformation relies not only on financial investment or technological innovation but on integrated efforts-linking energy infrastructure with policy, talent cultivation with regulation, and public vision with private sector execution.
Other prominent speakers included Otuya Okecha, CEO of FibreSol; Abayomi Adebanjo, Legal Director at Equinix West Africa; Marco Rebecchi, Nokia’s West Africa country manager; Josephine Sarouk, managing director of Bayobab; Lanre Kolade, managing director of Koltronics Nigeria and former group managing director of Csquared; Gbenga Adegbiji, CEO of Geniserve; Tola Talabi, CEO of Elektron Energy; Snehar Shah, CEO of IX Africa Data Centres; and Karim Amer, Head of IP Business for North, West & Central Africa at Nokia.
Africa Hyperscalers, the organizer of Hyperscalers Convergence Africa, stands as a leading pan-African platform dedicated to digital infrastructure insights and market engagement, uniting leaders, policymakers, and investors to collaboratively shape the continent’s digital future.